Aerodrome.



PIP-8301 R. E. HEATH.

AERODBOME.

APPLICATION FILED rnn.s,191o.

Patented May 23, 1911.

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AERODROME.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. a, 1910.

Patented May 23, 1911.

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AERODROME.

APPLICATION FILED M313, 1910 Patented May 23, 1911.

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ROBERT ERNEST HEATH, OF YORKVIL-LE, SOUTH CAROLINA.

AEBODROME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1911.

Application filed. February 3, 1910. Serial No. 541,737.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT E. HEATH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Yorkville, in the county of York and State of SouthCarolina, have invented a new and useful Aerodrome, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to aerodromes of that type commonly known astriplanes and its object is to provide a machine of this characterutilizing an upper sustaining plane and laterally extending lower planeswhich are shiftable relative to said body, means being provided wherebythe said lower planes can be independently moved about axes parallel tothe line of flight for the purpose of meeting atmospheric disturbancesand thus maintaining or restoring the equilibrium or lateral balance ofthe machine.

Another object is to provide a machine of this character the shiftableplanes of which are provided with means whereby they can besimultaneously moved about an axis extending transversely to the line offlight for varying the angle of incidence and thus controlling the riseand fall of the machine while being propelled in a forward direction.

A still further object is to provide a tail plane or horizontal ruddermounted for swinging movement upon an axis extending transversely to theline of flight, said rudder being provided with means whereby both therudder and the shiftable planes may be moved in unison.

A still further object is to provide means whereby both of the shiftableplanes can be simultaneously moved about transverse axes irrespective ofthe angles of said planes relative to each other.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certainnovel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter morefully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings :Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodyingthe present improvements, the propelling mechanism being removedtherefrom. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sect-ion through the supports of theupper plane, the said upper plane being outlined by dotted lines. Fig. 3is a front elevation of said machine. Fig. 1 is an enlarged verticaltransverse section through the inner end portion of the frame of one ofthe lower planes and a portion of the mechanism utilized for actuatingthe same.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates each oftwo supporting runners the front ends of which are curved upwardly andmerge into standards 2 while additional standards 3 extend upwardly fromsaid runners at intermediate points and are suitably braced, as shown,at 4. The upper ends of the standards 2 and 3 are connected by the frontportions of rearwardly extending downwardly curved frame pieces 5 therear ends of which are secured in any desired manner to the rear ends ofupwardly curved lower frame pieces 6 attached to the standards 2 and 3at points adjacent the runners 1. These frame pieces 5 and 6 may beconnected at desired points by braces 7 and the rear or meeting endsthereof are provided with journals 8 in which are mounted the ends of ashaft 9. The ends. of this shaft are fixedly secured to frames 10 onwhich are stretched the cloths 11 constituting the tail planes orhorizontal rudder of the machine. It will be noted that the two frames10 are fixedly connected by means of a central cross strip 12 and itwill be further noted that the shaft 9 is attached at points in advanceof the central connecting strip 12. Arms 13 extend from the center ofthe shaft 9 and are perpendicular to the upper and lower faces of theframes 10, each of these arms being connected by rearwardly divergingcords 14, to the inner rear corners of the frames.

Side bars 15 are mounted upon the side faces of the side strips 5adjacent the front ends thereof and are connected thereto by pivotdevices 16 on which the bars 15 are designed to swing. Each of thesebars 15 has front and rear standards 17 fixedly secured to it andextending upwardly therefrom, the said standards being secured, at theirupper ends, to spars, 18 preferably bowed downward at their ends andconnected at their ends by brace wires 19, to the lower portions of thestandards 17. These spars extend beyond the standards 17 and the sidesof the machine and have a cloth 2O stretched upon them and constitutethe upper sustaining plane of the machine. An extension frame 21 ispreferably formed upon the rear spar 18 and has a cloth 22 stretchedupon it so as to form an auxiliary rearwardly extending wing which ispreferably inclined downwardly and rearwardly at a slight angle relativeto the plane 20. Each of the lower planes of the machine consists ofinner and outer end strips 23 and 24 connected by front and rear spars25, there being any suitable arrangement of braces 26 whereby the saidstrips and spars can be rigidly connected. Each frame has supplementalribs or arms 27 extending rearwardly therefrom. and a cloth 28 isstretched upon the frame and ribs so as to complete the plane. The innerend strip 23 of each of these planes is connected, by means of hinges29, with the adjoining tiltable side bar 15, it being understood thatthe length of the inner end strip 23 is slightly less than the distancebetween the standards 17. Parallel hangers 30 are fixedly secured to andextend downwardly from the inner end strip 23 of each of the lowerplanes and are connected at their lower ends by a cross strip 31 towhich are secured braces 32 extending upwardly to the ends of the strip23, thus forming a strong frame hanging downward from said strip 23. Anelongated loop 33 is secured to the inner faces of the hangers dependingfrom each of the lower wings and mounted loosely within each of theseloops is a connecting strip 34 the upper end of which is pivotallyattached, as at 35, to a cross strip 36 secured to and located betweenthe upper end portions of the hangers 30. The connecting strip 34extends below the hangers and is pivotally attached to a link 37 whichis in turn pivotally connected to the lower end of a lever 38. Thislever is fulcrumed within a longitudinally slotted bar 39 which projectsbeyond the sides of the body of the machine, the strip 34 being extendedloosely through it. It will be apparent therefore that, while thehangers 30 and the parts connected thereto can be swung laterally bymeans of the levers 38, said levers, as well as the strips 34, willalways be held in the same plane by the slotted guide bar 39 which is ofcourse fixedly secured to the frame of the machine, the said guide barsbeing shown attached to the side strips 6 at points be tween thestandards 2 and 3.

In order that the upper and lower planes may be simultaneously movedabout an axis extending transversely of the line of flight, each of thestrips 15 is extended rearwardly a desired distance as shown especiallyin Figs. 1 and 2 and has a pitman 40 attached to its rear end, the saidpitman receiving motion from a crank 41 located at the end of atransversely extending rock shaft 42. This shaft is perfectly journaledupon the lower side strips 6 and has an actuating lever 43 attached toit. An arm 44 extends downwardly from the lever and in alinementtherewith and crossed cords 45 are secured to the outer ends of the twoarms 13 and to the lever 43 and arm 44 respectively so that when thelever 43 is actuated, the two shafts 42 and 9 are simultaneously rockedin opposite directions.

It is to be understood that the machine herein described may be providedwith any suitable means for propelling it. In preparing for a flight thelower planes are shifted, by means of the levers 38, so as to lie insubstantially the same plane after which lever 43 is actuated to swingthe side bars 15 upon their pivots 16 and thus elevate the front oradvancing edges of said lower wings as well as of the upper plane.Motion will be at the same time transmitted through the cords 45 to thetail planes so as to elevate the rear edges thereof. When the machine isdriven forward the pressure of the air against the lower faces of theplanes will cause the machine to soar upwardly and the pressure of theair against the upper faces of the tail planes will result in the slighttilting of the entire machine upon an axis extending transversely to theline of flight. Obviously the pressure of air against the tail plane andthe upper and lower sustaining planes will be such as to preserve thebalance of the machine during its flight. Whenever it becomes desirableto maintain the equilibrium of the machine by shifting the lower planesabout axes extending parallel with the line of flight, as for exampleduring an atmospheric disturbance, either or both of the levers 38 canbe shifted desired distances so as to transmit motion to the links 37and strips 34 to the frames of the lower wings which will thus be swungupon the hinges 29. It will be apparent that this swinging movement ofthe lower planes can be obtained irrespective of the angle produced bythe manipulation of the lever 43, this being due to the fact that thehangers 30 connected to the lower planes are shiftablevrelative to thestrips 34.

Various changes can of course be made in the construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of theinvention or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

That is claimed is 1. An aerodrome including a frame, upper and lowersustaining planes, means for simultaneously tilting said planes, about asingle axis extending transversely of the line of flight, and separatemeans operable independently of the first mentioned means, forindependently tilting the lower planes about axes extending parallel tothe line of flight.

2. An aerodrome including a frame, upper and lower sustaining planes,means for simultaneously tilting the said planes relative to the frameabout a single axis extending transversely of the line of flight, andseparate means for independently tilting the lower planes about axesextending parallel to the line of flight, and irrespective of thetilting of the planes about their transverse axis.

3. A combination with a frame, and tiltable side bar connected theretoof an upper sustaining plane supported above and movable with said bars,lower side sustaining planes hingedly connected to said bars, hangersdepending from the lower sustaining planes, means for simultaneouslytilting the side bars to correspondingly tilt the upper and lowersustaining planes about a common axis extending transversely of the lineof flight, separate means for actuating the lower planes about theirhinges, and means, slidably engaged by the hangers, for transmittingmotion to the hangers and lower planes from said actuating meansirrespective of the angle to which the planes may be tilted about theirtransverse axis.

4. An aerodrome including a frame, side strips pivotally connectedthereto, an upper sustaining plane supported above and movable with saidstrips, lower side sustaining planes hingedly connected to the strips,hangers fixed relatively to and depending from the lower planes,connecting strips pivotally attached to the hangers and dependingtherefrom, guide loops movable with the hangers and loosely embracingsaid strips, actuating levers, and connections between said levers andthe respective connecting strips.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBT. ERNEST HEATH.

Witnesses:

I. E. WILKIN, E. M. STANTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

